3 Rock Songs From 1967 That Still Make Me Smile Big Today

Rock music in the late 1960s has a certain sense of nostalgia, with music fans still enjoying that era of music, even decades later. These are three of the best rock songs from 1967, which still likely make anyone smile when they hear them today.

“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” by The Monkees

“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” is The Monkees’ third No. 1 single. Neither this song nor “The Girl I Knew Somewhere”, the follow-up single, appeared on a record when they were released. Neil Diamond wrote this song by himself.

The song says, “Girl, I don’t want to fight / I’m a little bit wrong / And you’re a little bit right.”

Interestingly, Diamond also wrote “I’m A Believer”, their second song to reach the top of the charts. Diamond also sings background vocals on this song.

“A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You” is the first single by The Monkees with Davy Jones singing lead on the song.

“I Dig Rock And Roll Music” by Peter, Paul and Mary

“I Dig Rock And Roll Music” was written by Peter, Paul and Mary’s Paul Stookey, along with James Mason and Dave Dixon. “I Dig Rock And Roll” is part of Album 1700. Although “I Dig Rock And Roll Music” may seem like it’s an ode to rock music, it’s also a bit of a tongue-in-cheek reference to the changing sounds within the genre.

The song says, “I dig rock and roll music / I could really get it on in that scene / I think I could say something if you know what I mean / But if I really say it / The radio won’t play it / Unless I lay it between the lines.”

Peter, Paul and Mary released several other singles after “I Dig Rock And Roll Music”. Still, they only had one other big hit after “I Dig Rock And Roll Music”. In 1969, the trio released “Leaving On A Jet Plane”, their final big hit. That song went all the way to No. 1.

“Penny Lane” by The Beatles

“Penny Lane” is one of several singles that The Beatles released in 1967. Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, “Penny Lane” is named after a street in Liverpool, England.

“Penny Lane” begins with, “In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs / Of every head he’s had the pleasure to have known / And all the people that come and go / Stop and say hello.”

“I can’t remember who wrote what first actually,” McCartney later tells Clash. ‘Penny Lane’ was kind of nostalgic. But it was really a place that John and I knew; it was actually a bus terminus. I’d get a bus to his house, and I’d have to change at Penny Lane, or the same with him to me, so we often hung out at that terminus, like a roundabout.”

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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